The Spiky Leader

In The Spiky Leader: Neurodiversity, Responsibility, and the Design of Collective Capability, executive coach and leadership practitioner Eric Michot offers a practical and humane approach to understanding this unevenness, particularly in the context of neurodiversity.

The central argument is simple but demanding: Difference deserves understanding. Impact still matters. And responsibility does not have to mean doing everything alone. Too often, workplace conversations about neurodiversity become trapped between two extremes. One expects individuals to adapt continually to systems built around narrow assumptions about how capable professionals should think, communicate and work.

The other can risk explaining away harmful impact or unreliable behaviour in the name of difference. The Spiky Leader offers another path through three interconnected principles: Amplify what the individual does unusually well. Architect conditions, relationships and systems that make reliable contribution more likely.